However, Cosoi said some new hack in inevitable which could cause people to take notice. The introduction of Internet-enabled door locks at CES poses the obvious question of whether the devices can be compromised by hackers.

Alex Colcernian, director of product development at Unikey, which powers Kwikset remote-control locks, said the technology includes “military-grade encryption” to stay secure.

Leo Herlin of French-based Medissimo, which introduced a smart pill box, said the system is “extremely secure” to prevent unwanted intrusions.

One factor that mitigates the risk is that with billions of objects likely to be connected, the value to hackers could be limited in most cases: Would a hacker penetrate a refrigerator to steal someone’s grocery list?

“You’ve got to be smart consumers when you’re using a smart device,” said Randy Overton, national product trainer for South Korean giant LG, which showed off its smart appliances that can communicate by text message with the owner.

To allay potential concerns, computer chip giant Intel announced at CES that it would offer its McAfee security service for connected devices free of charge,.

Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich told a CES keynote that offering this level of security would “allow this ecosystem to flourish.”

“It is impossible to put security software on every object,” Cisco’s David Orain said.

The answer is to look and address “abnormal activity” linked to the connected devices, Orain said, adding that this is part of what Cisco offers clients.

One of the areas where security concerns are paramount are in industrial applications.

Andreas Haegele of the France-based digital security firm Gemalto said electronic tracking has been done for decades for things like shipping containers and petroleum platforms, and that the security of these objects is now in focus.

US cybersecurity officials have also stepped up warnings for hacking into so-called critical infrastructure like pipelines and power grids.

Haley said that last month’s publicized hacking into a nanny cam drew headlines, but that no real damage was done.